Physical Therapy: Setting and Achieving Goals

Ask anyone who has ever been through it and they will tell you that intense physical therapy was one of the most harrowing, difficult, and painful things they ever went through. A good therapist challenges you to go up to your limits and then encourages you to push past them. If you're going to succeed in a program such as this, you can't simply rely on your therapists to determine your goals and achievements. You have to want it from the inside out. You have to push yourself beyond where you think your capabilities lie. Here are some tips on setting and achieving enormous goals.

Trust the Program

If you've ever watched "The Karate Kid," you probably remember the main character's endless frustration with painting fences, waxing cars, and sanding floors, wondering the entire time why he wasn't being trained in the karate Mr. Miyagi agreed to teach him. Of course, we soon discover that Daniel was learning more than he thought. It's easy to become similarly bewildered when going through physical therapy. Trust the program and trust the people you're working with. When things get tough, it's easy to start questioning the process. If you can keep those questions at bay, you can focus on getting the work done.

Visualization

Many experts believe we have not come within shouting distance of unlocking the true potential of the human mind. If this is true, it is easy to see why certain techniques and methods seem to work even when there is no strict scientific evidence to support them. Visualization falls into this category and many physical therapy programs depend on your ability to put them into practice. If you can see yourself doing something, it may help you achieve it in real life. At the very least, it won't hurt to try.

Never Accept Defeat

When your physical therapy program asks you to do something you know to be impossible, it's extremely easy to get a negative attitude. You give it one good try, fail, and insist that it can never be done. This may or may not be true, but a wise man once said, "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." This doesn't mean you can fly to the moon on a hummingbird if you believe it, but it does mean that you can accomplish amazing things if you believe in yourself and work hard towards a goal. Treat failure as room for improvement and nothing more.